Nadasdy, Tiicmas, a Hungarian Protestant divine of some note, flourisheil during the Reformation move- ment of the 16tli centurj-. But little is known of his personal historj-. He was distinguished by unusual at- tainments, power, wealtli, zeal, and generosity in sup- porting the cause of tlie Gospel. He died in 15,53. " Nadasdy had been a strong pillar in the Cliiirch in a day when every man was with one hand building the walls of Zion and with the other holding a weajion." See Craig, I/ist. of the Prot. Church in JIungartj (Uost. 1864), p. 92, 93.
Naenia (i. e. a dirge or lamentation, equivalent to the (ireek ^oiii'oc) is the term used to describe the Roman funeral songs, uttered cither by the relatives of
NAGA
823
NAGDILAII
the deceased or by hired persons. At Rome Naenia was personified and worshipped as a goddess, and even had a chapel, which, however, as in the case of all other gods in connection with the dead, was outside the walls of the city, near the i^orta Yiminalis. As Naeniie are comparetl with lullabies, and as they seem to have been sung with a soft voice, as if a person was to be lulled to sleep, the object of this worship was probably to procure rest and peace for the departed in the lower world. See Augustine, De Cii: Dei, vi, 9; Arnobius, Adv. Gent, iv, 7 ; vii,"32 ; Horace, Carm. iii, 28, 16 ; Festus, p. 161, 163, ed. Milller.
Naga (a Sanscrit word signifying snaJce) designates in Hindu mythology a monster, regarded as a demigod, and having a human face with the tail of a serpent and the expanded neck of a cobra de capello. The worship of the snake-gods is termed Naga Panchami. These gods, of whom, among the Hindus, Yasuki is the lord and Manusa the queen, reside in regions imme- diately under the earth, supposed to be the seat of ex- haustless treasures, the blaze of which supplies the ab- sence of the solar radiance. The race of these beings is said to have sprung from Kasyapa (q.v.), in order to people the regions below the earth (Patala). The prin- cipal Nagas, of which there are about a dozen, are pro- pitiated with offerings of milk and ghee. The tifth lunar day of Sravana is held sacred to the Nagas. On that day ablutions are performed in the pool sacred to Vasuki, the lord of the Nagas. By observing this cere- mony the Nagas are pleased, and the votaries are be- lieved to rest free from the dread of serpents. See Moor, Hindu Pantheon, s. v. ; Coleman, Hindu Mythol. p. 25-1.
Nagara, Israel ben-Moses, a Jewish writer, was a native of Spain, but flourished at Damascus near the closing part of the 16th century^. He was a celebrated poet, and was wont to attend the mosques to collect their musical tunes, to which he adapted Hebrew or Chaldee verses. His works were, PX'H'J'^ niT'^T, a collection of religious poems in three parts (Isafet, l.i87 ; Venice, 1606) : — ?3!j}3 rpflb'S, a metrical homily on contempt for the world (Venice, 1580, 1599) :— i^'^r >X"lb'^, The Waters of Israel, a melanrje, poetical, epis- tolary, and oratorical, arranged under six heads, desig- nated by the waters mentioned in the Bible: 1. "^^ ns'irt. Waters of Siloah; 2. nin!l273 -^-q, Waters of Qui- etude; 3. n3i-)/D ^^, Waters of Strife,- A. ^'rS-O lO. Waters of Besieging; 5. -HT lp. Gold Waters; 6. Cil-a 112, Bitter Waters (\^enice, 1605). See Fiirst, Biblioth. Judaica, iii, 12 ; De Rossi, Hizionario (Germ. transL), p. 240; Lindo, [list, of the Jews in Spain, p. 360; Etheridge, Introd. to Hehr. Lit. p. 462; Margoliouth, Modern Judaism Investigated, p. 245 ; Jost, Gesch. d. Ju- denth. u. s. Sekten, iii, 275 ; Griitz, Gesch. d. Juden, ix, 421, 422 ; Delitzsch, Zur Gesch. d. Jiid. Poesie, p. 56 ; Zunz, Zur Gesch. u. Literatur, p. 229; Literaturgesch. d. sy- nagogalen Poesie (Berl. I860), p. 419. (B. P.)
Nagarjuna or Nagasena, one of the most cel- ebrated Buddhistic teachers or patriarchs — the thir- teenth— according to some, lived about 400 years, ac- cording to others, about 500 j-ears after the death of the Buddha Sakyamuni (i. e. 143 or 43 B.C.). He was the founder of the Madhyamika school, and his princi- pal disciples were Aryadeva and Buddhapalita. Accord- ing to the tradition of the Buddhas, he was born in the south of India, in a Brahminical famih'. Even as a child he studied all the four Vedas; later he travelled through various countries, and became proficient in as- tronomy, geography, and magical arts. By means of the last he had several amorous adventures, which end- ed in the death of three companions of his, but in his own repentance, and, with the assistance of a Buddhist mendicant, in his conversion to Buddhism. Slany mir- acles are, of course, attributed to his career as propa- gator of this doctrine, especially in the south of India,
and his life is said to have lasted 300 years. See E. Burnouf, Introd. a VHist. du Buddhisms Indien (Par. 1844); Spence Hardy, Manual of Buddhism (Lond. 1853). — Chambers's Cyclop, s. v.
Nagasena. See Nagarjuna.